For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
Read Chapter 11
Aphrahat the Persian Sage
AD 345
Judge in yourself what I am going to tell you: suppose you happen to go on a long journey and, parched with thirst in the heat, you chance upon one of the brothers. You say to him, “Refresh me in my exhaustion from thirst,” and he replies, “It is the time for prayer; I will pray and then I will come to your aid”; and while he is praying, before coming to you, you die of thirst. What seems to you the better, that he should go and pray, or alleviate your exhaustion? Demonstration
Indeed, many sins seem to be ignored and go unpunished. But their punishment is reserved for the future. It is not in vain that the day when the Judge of the living and the dead shall come is rightly called the day of judgment. Just so, on the other hand, some sins are punished here, and if they are forgiven will certainly bring no harm upon us in the future age. Hence, referring to certain temporal punishments which are visited upon sinners in this life, the apostle, speaking to those whose sins are blotted out and not reserved to the end says: “But if we judged ourselves truly we should not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are chastened so that we may not be condemned along with the world.”
Paul did not say, “if we punished ourselves” but only if we were prepared to recognize our offense, to judge ourselves truly, to condemn our own wrongdoing, then we should be rid of the punishment both in this world and in the next. For the one who condemns himself propitiates God in two ways, first by acknowledging his sins and second by being more careful in the future.
And he said not, if we punished ourselves, if we were revenged on ourselves, but if we were only willing to acknowledge our offense, to pass sentence on ourselves, to condemn the things done amiss, we should be rid of the punishment both in this world and the next. For he that condemns himself propitiates God in two ways, both by acknowledging his sins, and by being more on his guard for the future. But since we are not willing to do even this light thing, as we ought to do it, not even thus does He endure to punish us with the world, but even thus spares us, exacting punishment in this world, where the penalty is for a season and the consolation great; for the result is both deliverance from sins, and a good hope of things to come, alleviating the present evils. And these things he says, at the same time comforting the sick and rendering the rest more serious.
